“You’ve really grown up. Buying your own house and shit,” he said, squeezing me. “I mean, there you are, holding down a steady job and shit. Paying bills—”

“And shit?” I finished for him.

“Essactly,” he said.

Something on the bridge of his nose caught my eye. I moved toward him. “Did you actually break your nose?” I asked, lifting my hand to his face. He jerked away, laughing me off.

“It didn’t break. It just, um . . . it moved over a little.” Then he turned to Kael with a goofy smile plastered on his face. “Be careful with her, bro. I’m not going to be that guy who’s like threatening dudes over his sister or anything like that. Nothing like that. I’m just saying, my sister, well . . . she flips on you and, man . . .” He used his fingers like a knife under his throat.

Kael cast his eyes downward, giving no indication of what he thought about what he’d just heard.

“I’m kidding. She’s a peach.” He hugged me again. “A real peachy peach of a sister. Aren’t you?”

Oh, yeah, totally smashed.

The kitchen was getting busy now, with people coming in to refill their drinks, as if a shift change had been announced or something. It wasn’t until Kael looked at me that I felt like a kid. I probably seemed so immature, borderline wrestling with my brother, who was completely out of it.

“Right. Thanks for the news bulletin,” I said, maneuvering out of his arm. “Your new little friend is waiting for you. She looks lonely. I saw her a few minutes ago sitting by herself on the floor.” I nodded toward the living room.

“Katie? She’s cute, huh? She’s going to school to be a nurse,” he told us with pride.

Kael made a face like he was impressed, but I wasn’t as drunk as Austin was, and I could tell that Kael was humoring him. He mostly hid his mouth behind the dark beer bottle.

“You mean the little girl wants to be a nurse when she gets to be all grown up? After she’s out of high school and into the big world?” It was how I was with Austin—teasing him about stuff. It was part of our twin dynamic. We didn’t have that mythical twin thing where we could read each other’s minds or feel each other’s pain. Nothing weird like that. Okay, I understood him on a level that I didn’t feel with most people. And I felt a closeness to him that I couldn’t explain. But a lot of siblings felt that, especially when they’d gone through their parents’ divorce and all the mess that came with it.